Texas Football: 3 Longhorns to watch in opener vs. UTEP

3) Texas football players to watch in Week 1: Josh Thompson, CB

Among all the moves that head coach Tom Herman and recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash made on the defensive side of the ball to alter the depth chart heading into the season opener, this one had to be the most surprising. Texas looked like they were going to roll with the junior cornerback pairing of Jalen Green and D’shawn Jamison heading into the season, but that was not the case so far.

Green wound up getting put in a backup slot behind Jamison in the season opening depth chart, and redshirt junior defensive back Josh Thompson will get the start over him. There is still a good chance that we see a lot of Green and sophomore cornerback Kenyatta Watson II in this game, but it is interesting that Thompson is getting the start over both of them, with Jamison.

Thompson spent most of last season dealing with injury. He returns this season with 46 career total tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass deflections. The season where he played in the most games was back during the 2018 campaign. He only played in three games last year, before he had to call it a season and get a redshirt.

But the versatile 6-foot and 200 pound Thompson does have a lot of experience playing in different spots in this secondary under former defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. That combined with an apparently good showing in fall camp should help Thompson do well in his first start at corner under Ash.